


Aithusa

by Clea2011



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Dragons, Episode: s04e04 Aithusa, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humour, M/M, Post-Episode: s04e04 Aithusa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-10-10 02:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20520281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/pseuds/Clea2011
Summary: Aithusa really didn't like being left with just grumpy Kilgharrah for company. All Big Dragon wanted to do was sleep.  That's no fun if you're a bouncy young newborn who just wants to play.  And eat.  And spend lots of time with your dragonlord.So Aithusa follows her dragonlord's scent all the way to Camelot.  Right back to where it's strongest - Arthur's chambers.





	Aithusa

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Cam, LFB and Polo for looking it over for me.

Aithusa was bored.

Dragonlord hadn’t come back yet and Aithusa was stuck with Big Dragon. Big Dragon was So Boring.

Big Dragon was very grumpy and did not want to play. Dragonlord had been fun. Dragonlord had smiled at her and played with her in the forest. He’d said she was beautiful and special.

Big Dragon had carried her up to a far-off mountain that wasn’t lush and green like the forest. He fed her and gave her a nest of her own, but also said that she was like an irritating fly that wouldn’t stop buzzing and please let him sleep now.

Aithusa was very young and didn’t want to sleep. She’d been asleep in that egg for hundreds of years and now it was time to be awake and alive. And to be living her best life, she definitely needed Dragonlord.

Big Dragon let out a deep, rumbling snore. He wasn’t going to wake up any time soon. Perhaps he would sleep for a hundred years and think that was normal?

Dragonlord was never going to find them up on that mountain, that was why he hadn’t come back yet. Aithusa wanted to see Dragonlord again, hear the voice that had called her to life.

She sniffed the air. It wouldn’t be so hard to find her way back to the forest, retracing their trail. And from there it would be easy to pick up the scent of Dragonlord.

He was probably already there, searching for Aithusa. She would find her way back to him and make him proud of her.

\---

Arthur woke up slowly, not sure what had done it this time. Probably Merlin. It was usually Merlin that woke him up. Tapping on the headboard for woodworm was the last ridiculous excuse. Why didn’t he just say he wanted a shag? Honestly, Merlin was the worst excuse for a servant. If he wasn’t so… _skilled_ in other areas Arthur would have sacked him years before.

There _was_ a strange faint tapping noise, like a cat or something was padding across the stone flagons. But he couldn’t see anything. Perhaps it was just the wind against the castle walls?

Merlin was nowhere in sight this time to blame for it. Perhaps he’d gone to fetch breakfast? The first rays of sunrise were starting to filter in through the window. It would be a pleasant surprise if Merlin was actually taking his duties seriously for once. Perhaps they’d share breakfast and then some early morning delights? Perfect way to start the day.

Arthur snuggled back down in his bed happily. Mmm… he could still smell Merlin’s scent on the pillows. It was easy enough to drift back into dreamland. After all, there was no fun in waking up without Merlin.

\---

Dragonlord hadn’t been in the forest, but his scent was still strong. Obviously he’d been there and left again when he couldn’t find Aithusa. Dragonlord was going to be so impressed when Aithusa proved what a good dragon she was and found him all by herself.

Dragonlord’s trail led off through the forest and up to a fine castle beyond. Night had fallen by the time Aithusa reached the forest as her little wings couldn’t carry her too far in one go and progress was slow. It had been an epic journey back on her own without Big Dragon carrying her. But she’d done it. She could see the castle as she approached.

It had to be Dragonlord’s castle. It was fitting that such a great man should live in such a grand place. Aithusa ruffled her tiny wings with pride at being_ his_ dragon. All she had to do was find him again.

There were many people living around the castle. Aithusa was a very small dragon, being only a few days old, and Big Dragon had warned her to stay away from ordinary people as they might hurt her. So she flittered across the rooftops of the small houses around the castle, then up onto the wall of the castle itself.

Aithusa could see the whole castle from her new vantage point. It was very grand indeed. And Dragonlord’s scent was strong there. It was particularly strong higher up, in one of the towers. Happily Aithusa flew up to it and settled on the windowsill.

Dragonlord was obviously expecting her. He’d left the window open for her. Aithusa wriggled in through the gap and leapt down to the floor. It was smooth stone, much smoother than that on the mountain. Dragonlord had probably made it so by magic. It was very good. 

Aithusa hopped happily across the room. It smelled very strongly of Dragonlord and that was good. This must be Dragonlord’s cave. And there, in the centre, smelling best and most attractive of all, was Dragonlord’s nest. And there was a figure sleeping in it. Dragonlord! At last!

Aithusa took a small leap and landed on the edge of the nest. The nest was large and warm and one small step into it proved it was very soft. As it should be. Dragonlord was truly great.

But he was also making little snuffly noises as if he was asleep. Clearly he had no idea that Aithusa had come all that way to see him. If he had then surely he would be sitting up and smiling, welcoming her into his lair.

Aithusa sang to him, a gentle song of baby dragons that ended with the reminder that they always needed feeding. Big Dragon had taught it to her, although he’d soon tired of hearing it. Dragonlord would want to hear it all the time because he was so good. 

And he was waking up!

Aithusa sang again, louder this time. The figure in the bed rolled over and rubbed the rich golden fur on its head. It was the colour of sunlight. Just like the name Dragonlord had given Aithusa – the light of the sun. Aithusa gave a little sigh of happiness.

“Merlin? What’s that racket? Gods, what’s _that?_”

It wasn’t Dragonlord. But Dragonlord’s scent was all over him, and he had been sleeping in Dragonlord’s nest. Clearly this honoured and very strong and beautiful creature was Dragonlord’s mate. And Dragonlord’s mate was now gazing at Aithusa. Obviously this human would want to be Aithusa’s newest friend. They could praise Dragonlord together.

Aithusa chirruped delightedly, and flung herself joyfully at Dragonlord’s mate. 

\---

It was a dragon.

There was absolutely no doubt that it was a tiny baby dragon and it was right there sitting on the end of Arthur’s bed. Arthur froze. He wasn’t sure whether to try to get to his sword, or whether that would just antagonise it. Dragons could breathe fire. This one might be tiny but who knew when they started? It might still be able to roast him alive. 

It was watching him, tilting its head from side to side. Clearly it was sizing him up for dinner, waiting to attack. And where was Merlin? Breakfast was sitting on a table beside the bed, or half of it was. Oh… maybe Merlin really _had_ gone to get breakfast on time and was about to arrive with the rest of it. Or perhaps he wasn’t. Perhaps Merlin had been attacked by the… tiny, weeny little creature. No, even Merlin would be able to defend himself against something so small. Unless it really could breathe fire and Merlin was just a charred heap of ash on the floor – but then Arthur would be able to smell burning. 

The thing shrieked loudly and launched its attack on him. It flew directly at him and Arthur barely managed to throw himself out of bed and onto the floor in time. Half the bedclothes went with him and he barely managed to stop himself tripping over them as he scrambled to his feet.

Of course he was quite naked. That was Merlin’s fault, he’d been far too tempting the previous evening and their clothes had been flung aside. Arthur wasn’t even sure where his clothes had gone as they weren’t on the floor any more. Of all the times for Merlin to be a good servant and actually tidy up! Arthur quickly wrapped a sheet around himself. Merlin definitely wasn’t in the room. That was good. One less thing to worry about. In fact, now that Arthur was confident that Merlin was safe and probably just off somewhere getting them breakfast it was becoming clear that much of the whole situation was Merlin’s fault. There would probably need to be spanking later or something else equally suitable and fun.

Merlin had claimed that the dragon egg had been destroyed when the tower collapsed. That clearly wasn’t the case – the tower had probably smashed the egg and let the evil fire-breathing demon out. And it had caught their scent and followed them here and come in through the window that _Merlin_ had left open and now it was going to…

…It was going to eat their breakfast. 

The little dragon was cawing and screeching and had flown over to the breakfast table. Actually, it wasn’t so much cawing and screeching as almost purring as it pounced on a delicious looking piece of chicken. In fact if Arthur didn’t know better the sounds were more like happy cries of joy. But that was impossible. It was a fearsome monster after all.

Arthur’s sword was on the other side of the room. Also Merlin’s fault as it just wasn’t safe to keep it in their bed when Merlin was so accident-prone. There had been several near misses.

Arthur could probably dart across the room while the creature was feeding. He could just edge past the table carefully so as not to startle the beast…

\---

Dragonlord’s mate was very good. He’d climbed out of the nest to make room for Aithusa and then went to stand next to _food_. Obviously he could tell that Aithusa was tired and hungry and was offering it to her. They clearly were going to be the very best of friends. Aithusa loved Dragonlord’s mate very much already. 

And Dragonlord’s mate was probably hungry too. Aithusa could smell that they had mated with Dragonlord some hours before. They would need sustenance in case Dragonlord wished to mate again when he returned. Aithusa realised that perhaps she was being greedy and should share with her new friend. After all, they were both servants… pets, really… of Dragonlord. 

The mate was moving slowly along the side of the nest, watching Aithusa. Doubtless he was concerned in case Aithusa was not enjoying the feast. She gave a few little cries of happiness purely for his benefit, and then decided to feed him in case he couldn’t feed himself.

She carefully perused the meal laid out for her, then chose another piece of the white meat as that had been very fine indeed. Picking it up in her mouth, she flew over to the mate with her gift.

Dragonlord’s mate made a sound that Aithusa didn’t understand and fell backwards into the nest again. She decided it was humantongue that he spoke and that she would need to learn it. The mate would teach her. They would have plenty of time together, waiting around for Dragonlord to return from the important things that the great one had to do. 

Happy that the mate was back in the nest, Aithusa flew over and dropped the gift on him before landing in the nest herself and snuggling up against him with a cry of pure joy. Ah, he was so warm and soft and smelled so good. No wonder Dragonlord had chosen him.

\---

Arthur had almost made it to the corner of the bed when the creature flew at him again. He was so startled that he fell backwards onto the bed. There was really no other direction to go. The thing hovered above him for a few moments, then dropped the piece of chicken that it was carrying. It hit Arthur right in the face, if his mouth had been open it would have fallen right in. He snatched it and was about to throw it aside…

And then the fearsome beast landed on the bed – definitely purring, there was no doubt about it – and started rubbing her head against Arthur’s chest. It was bizarre. It was… actually quite endearing. And the creature hadn’t attacked him, not really.

Tentatively, Arthur reached out and stroked the top of the little dragon’s head. The purring turned almost into a rumble, it was so loud. He tore off a little piece of the chicken and fed it into the tiny mouth. The way the little creature was obviously enjoying it all really was very sweet.

It was a white dragon. Arthur had never heard of dragons being white. Perhaps white dragons were harmless and kind. Perhaps they didn’t need to kill this one. Perhaps it could stay with them for a while. He was a Pen_dragon_ after all.

But he’d have to come up with a good excuse before Merlin got back. Seeing a dragon would terrify Merlin.

\---

Merlin made his way up the stairs with the rest of Arthur’s breakfast.

He’d suggested a few times, since Arthur was now king, that it would be a good idea to move his royal chambers to the ground floor. Perhaps somewhere nice and close to the kitchen so that Merlin didn’t have to carry everything up and down so many stairs.

Arthur said it kept him fit. Arthur was a dollophead and a cabbagebrain and oh so many other things. If Merlin didn’t love him so much he’d turn him into a turtle and see how much he liked all those stairs then. 

Also, Arthur could talk about being kept fit. His breakfast was enough to feed four people. Okay, so it fed Merlin as well, but that wasn’t the point. It was a lot to carry. It took two trips. And he’d probably want a bath afterwards and that was even more to carry. Perhaps they could have the bath together though? That would definitely make up for it.

Merlin reached the top of the stairs, made his way along the little corridor to Arthur’s chambers, and pushed open the door with his shoulder. Arthur was probably still asleep, although the smell of food normally woke him up. Hopefully he was still in bed though, and up for another shag. That was one exercise for the king that Merlin definitely didn’t mind. He backed into the room, then turned around.

And then he nearly dropped the platter and flagon he was carrying with shock.

There was Arthur, half-dressed (which was a bit of a disappointment really) and sitting up in bed. Next to him was a heaped plate of food from the breakfast dishes that Merlin had brought up on his first trip. And sitting on Arthur’s knee, happily catching and then wolfing down the little pieces of food that Arthur was tossing her, was Aithusa.

“Don’t frighten her Merlin,” Arthur called gently. “She’s quite harmless and very tame. Look!” he threw a piece of sausage in a high loop. Aithusa jumped up and caught it, then landed back down on Arthur’s knee.

“I think she’s a strange breed of dog,” Arthur continued.

“Yes,” Merlin said faintly, watching Arthur stroking Aithusa’s head fondly and reaching for another sausage to feed her with. The baby dragon was absolutely drinking up the attention and chittering happily as she climbed down to snuggle in his lap. “A dog… yes.”

“I’ve decided to keep her… I think she’s a girl. Not completely sure. I think she’ll be a real asset protecting the castle when she’s older though.”

Merlin put the platter and flagon down because there was a real danger that he might drop them.

Aithusa chirruped and squawked at him delightedly from her place in Arthur’s lap but didn’t move. Evidently she knew a good thing when she found it. Aithusa wasn’t fully telepathic yet, being so young, but Merlin caught a vague impression from her that she thought she was being fed by his mate. Well, she was, technically. It was the other assumptions that he was getting from her that possibly wouldn’t go down too well if Arthur ever found out about them. 

“What do you think then, Merlin?” Arthur asked. “She’s a good girl, aren’t you? Yes… yes you are!” he cooed to the little dragon fondly. Aithusa gurgled then gave a little hiccup. A tiny spiral of smoke drifted from one of her nostrils. Arthur quickly wafted it away. “Dust,” he explained. “You really should clean up properly in here, Merlin.”

Hmm. 

Merlin wasn’t entirely convinced by Arthur’s claims that he thought Aithusa was a dog. Though he couldn’t blame Arthur for being smitten by the tiny dragon – Aithusa was very cute. And it was certainly better than having to smuggle her out of the castle and return her to that frankly quite rubbish babysitter Kilgharrah. She could stay for a while. He supposed that in the meantime he’d better get on with teaching Aithusa to talk. And before she demonstrated that particular skill to Arthur there were a few misunderstandings that needed clearing up. Small things like Aithusa thinking the once and future king was Merlin’s pet…

Though Arthur’s reaction would be quite entertaining.

“Well?” Arthur asked again.

Merlin smiled, picturing it already. “I think it’s a _great_ idea!”

\------


End file.
